Australian Football - the most popular sport in Australia - was first played in a recognisable format in 1858.  Of all the football codes throughout the world, the Australian game boasts the oldest, officially codified set of playing rules. The Melbourne Football Club is the keeper of the code, and the oldest professional sporting club with continuous existence in the world.

Putting it into some context, basketball wasn’t invented until 1891, and the New York Yankees baseball team wasn’t formed until 1903.

The Melbourne Football Club has been a pioneer of Australian Football’s international development. It was the first club in the 1960s to play an exhibition match overseas, and in the 1980s, recruited Irish Gaelic Football players to switch to the Australian game.

Recently, Melbourne has developed strong links to China, first visiting in 2007 and selecting two graduates from the Beijing Sports University to undertake a two week scholarship to train with the Melbourne Football Club. This year, Melbourne was asked to play in the first official AFL exhibition match in China as part of the Kaspersky Cup: Shanghai Showdown during the World Expo 2010.

Known as the Demons, the Melbourne Football Club represents Melbourne city, which has a long history with China through migration, and more recently, international students. Understanding football is a great way to better understand Australia.  Supporting the Melbourne Football Club will help you to build friendships and networks in this great city, giving you a reason to belong.

If you would like more information about the Club or our China activities, please register your name below.